AFI FEST 2014 presented by Audi has announced the features and short films that received this year’s Jury and Audience Awards. “The films in competition have screened at other festivals throughout the year and AFI FEST is the place where they are presented together in the context of showcasing bold, original and audacious auteur work from new filmmakers,” said Jacqueline Lyanga, Director of AFI FEST. “We hope the recognition from our jury of film critics will lead audiences to discover these films.” See winners below: Grand Jury Award Live Action Short Film: BUFFALO JUGGALOS Special Jury Mention for Direction: SHIPWRECK Special…

Mia Hansen-Løve’s fourth feature, EDEN, chronicles two decades in the Parisian club scene, starting in the early 1990s. Following aspiring young DJ, Paul (Félix de Givry), from his early gigs at house parties to a life of international travel and then through the waning popularity of garage music in the mid-2000s, the film is filled with both passion and melancholy. Hansen-Løve discusses her inspirations for the film, the importance of staying true to the authenticity of her experiences, and how Daft Punk became a vital part of the story. AFI: What inspired you to tell this story? MHL: I had…

Joel Potrykus’ second feature, BUZZARD, follows Marty (played by Joshua Burge), a mortgage office temp in Grand Rapids, Michigan with almost no ambition other than to scam his way to the middle, eat frozen pizza and craft a homemade Freddy Krueger glove. When he steals a stack of checks from work, his paranoia begins to creep in, and he must go into hiding. For Marty, life on the lam is full of Bugles chips, basements, cheap hotels and violence. Unlike other “slacker” films, BUZZARD teems with energy. Potrykus explores one of society’s leftovers in-depth. Shifting between genres seamlessly, the film…

In MR. TURNER, British auteur Mike Leigh follows the latter half of the life and career of iconoclastic landscape painter J.M.W. Turner. Played by Timothy Spall in a Cannes Best Actor-winning performance, Turner is at once charming and a repulsive brute of a man, using unusual methods to craft stunning masterpieces while employing considerably less elegance in his personal relationships. With gorgeous photography by Leigh’s longtime cinematographer Dick Pope and lush period detail, MR. TURNER is a sensuous slow-burn replete with Leigh’s trademark wit and empathy for human frailty. AFI talked with Leigh about the film, which screens at AFI…

The only Brazilian selection at AFI FEST 2014 presented by Audi, Gabriel Mascaro’s AUGUST WINDS encapsulates the spirit of innovation and experimentation that characterizes many of the films in the World Cinema section of this year’s festival. AUGUST WINDS is a lyrical journey, set on an island off the coast of northeastern Brazil, where a young couple contemplates the nature of death after discovering a skull floating offshore. Having previously directed documentaries, including HOUSEMAIDS and HIGH RISE, this is Mascaro’s first foray into a fictional film, and his eye for capturing natural surroundings blends with an engrossing and meditative narrative.…